Global spending on mobile expected to pass $76bn in 2018

2018 has been another year of growth across the board for the mobile market, with a new report from App Annie showing that consumer spend, usage and number of downloads are all up year-on-year.

Based on preliminary data from January 1 through December 15, the biggest growth was seen in consumer spend, which rose by 20% when compared with the previous year and is on course to pass $76 billion globally.

App Annie attibuted this to not only increasing spend on mobile games but also the rise of in-app subscriptions for non-gaming mobile offerings.

Forecasts also show that global downloads across both iOS and Google Play will surpass 113 billion this year -- that's 10% up on 2017's total downloads.

Usage has also risen by 10% year-on-year, with the average smartphone user in the United States spending just shy of three hours using mobile apps every day. This is 20% higher than 2016, and a stark reminder of how great a share mobile has over consumers' time today.

App Annie also released its own ranking of the top apps by download (again, encompassing both iOS and Google Play). These were:

1. Helix Jump (Voodoo)
2. Subway Surfers (Sybo Games)
3. PUBG Mobile (Bluehole)
4. Free Fire (Garena)
5. Love Balls (Lion Studios)
6. Rise Up (Serkan Ozyilmaz)
7. Candy Crush Saga (King)
8. Happy Glass (Lion Studios)
9. Snper 3D Assassin (Fun Games For Free)
10. Kick the Buddy (Playgendary)

Finally, the firm listed the highest grossing apps across both mobile platforms.

1. Fate/Grand Order (Aniplex)
2. Honour of Kings (Tencent)
3. Monster Strike (Mixi)
4. Candy Crush Saga (King)
5. Lineage M (NCsoft)
6. Fantasy Westward Journey (NetEase)
7. Pokemon Go (Niantic)
8. Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle (Bandai Namco)
9. Clash of Clans (Supercell)
10. Clash Royale (Supercell)